Amazing Spider-Man 74 - Preview - LET'S GOOO!

[Revolutionary_Jack]

My feeling is that this issue shouldn't have been $10. So on that level I'm not happy about it.

I would have removed the backups and kept the main Spencer issue. The backups added nothing (I know Ben Reilly fans will disagree about the Ben Reilly one but sue me) and the Gage backup was just bad, a lame imitation of the kind of story Paul Jenkins could do in his sleep. It also irritated me for reasons I don't want to go into now but for those who want a guess, it contradicts stuff in Louise Simonson's great ASM Annual #21 and from earlier in Spencer's run.

The main Spencer story I liked. It's not a great satisfying ending but at the very least we got rid of BND-Harry and made him an impostor. We got a mostly decent explanation for Kindred, the Harry AI, the twins and Mephisto.

As for OMD, Spencer hasn't kicked the can down the road so much as make it into a giant elephant filigree that occupies the central room of ASM Continuity's metaphorical living room which everyone has to move around. So that's good under the circumstances.

I never had too much expectations because obviously so long as Quesada is around at Marvel and (mostly) calling the shots, he's never going to have that story addressed the way it should. To the extent I was optimistic, I expected Spencer would have Peter and/or Mary Jane remember his marriage but I lost hope for that when it didn't happen with Last Remains. Because the fallout for that ought to have furnished several issues worth of stuff at least. Since it didn't happen then I didn't think it'll happen on the way out and not when Spencer announced his exit.

[Sacred Knight]

Hey guys, sorry to barge in but I just had a quick question; where is the place to start to get this entire saga? I haven't read any of it, hell havent' read any Spider-Man in a long time, but what I've heard of this intrigues me a lot and I'd like to consume it start to finish. Would it be the very beginning of Spencer's run, or a little before or after?

[IamnotJudasTraveller]

Would it be the very beginning of Spencer's run, or a little before or after?

Very beginning and you'll be fine. This entire storyarc kicked off when he took over.

[The Twilight Mexican]

I never had too much expectations because obviously so long as Quesada is around at Marvel and (mostly) calling the shots, he's never going to have that story addressed the way it should.

Only thing that might have more influence over the situation than that elderly child is Twitter -- and not a cancellation campaign of anger, but a faux approval campaign of praise. Light the Interwebs up with adulation for Marvel bravely sticking to their guns on keeping an unborn child sold to the devil and let that story get enough traction that Disney raises its eyebrows and asks wtf they're doing over there.

[Dzika_Sowa]

Nope. They don't even try a swerve like "Confess you didn't even remember we actually exist, Peter!"

Man, it's so obvious this is not the intended ending, and Marvel doesn't give a fu*k about it, or about its readers. That's sad.

[Sacred Knight]

Very beginning and you'll be fine. This entire storyarc kicked off when he took over.

Okay cool, thanks!

[NC_Yankee]

That would have been as controversial and OOC as OMD in my opinion.

Did a lot of people really want Harry dead again?

I do not think there is anyone on this site who despises Cindy and those scenes like I do, and I still do not put it on the same level as selling your soul to Mephisto. The entire point is there are plenty of scenarios where the marriage could be broken up and Peter and MJ divorced without involving Mephisto. I just picked one that is based on something that actually happened. Giving MJ the Gwen Stacy treatment is another, there are all kinds of options. One thing that has not gotten enough discussion is this: By bringing Mayday into OMD, Spencer or Gage ( do not know who was responsible), actually made OMD worse. How? Norman Osborn made out better then Peter. Why? At least Norman has Normie ( maybe the only person besides his wife he ever cared about) while Peter has no Mayday. FU very much for that.

[omegafix]

Hey guys, sorry to barge in but I just had a quick question; where is the place to start to get this entire saga? I haven't read any of it, hell havent' read any Spider-Man in a long time, but what I've heard of this intrigues me a lot and I'd like to consume it start to finish. Would it be the very beginning of Spencer's run, or a little before or after?

here is the entire Spencer run in reading order

Free Comic Book Day 2018
Amazing Spider-Man #1-16
Amazing Spider-Man #16.HU
Amazing Spider-Man #17-18
Amazing Spider-Man #18.HU
Amazing Spider-Man #19
Amazing Spider-Man #19.HU
Amazing Spider-Man #20
Amazing Spider-Man #20.HU
Amazing Spider-Man #21-44
Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Rising Pelude #1
Amazing Spider-Man #45-48
Amazing Spider-Man: The Sins of Norman Osborn #1
Amazing Spider-Man #49-50
Amazing Spider-Man #50.LR
Amazing Spider-Man #51
Amazing Spider-Man #51.LR
Amazing Spider-Man #52
Amazing Spider-Man #52.LR
Amazing Spider-Man #53
Amazing Spider-Man #53.LR
Amazing Spider-Man #54
Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR
Amazing Spider-Man #55-65
Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom #1
Amazing Spider-Man #66-69
Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: Chameleon Conspiracy #1
Amazing Spider-Man #70
Sinister War #1
Amazing Spider-Man #71
Sinister War #2
Sinister War #3
Amazing Spider-Man #72
Sinister War #4
Amazing Spider-Man #73-74

[bob.schoonover]

Did a lot of people really want Harry dead again?

I think there are 3 camps on people that care about Harry* - (1) thought SSM 200 was perfect and he should have been left with that ending, (2) thought his BND resurrection was a little too neat (swept all the crappy stuff he did under the run) but had some good moments, and (3) enjoy having Peter's friend back in the story, even if it's only occasionally. No idea how big each camp is, but it seems unlikely to me that group (1) is so large that "we've killed BND Harry, ha ha" is a huge piece of fan service.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The thing that gets me about this whole run is best exemplified by Ned Leeds. Slott brought him back in Clone Conspiracy, but Spencer killed the clone. Then he brings back Ned using a different mechanism (a convoluted retcon), has him knock up Betty, and then he and Betty are trying to close some big story. But that arc didn't really finish out. Ned is now alive and has Goblin formula coursing through him (so does the baby?), he's hidden certain aspects of his resurrection, and ...that's it.

So was the problem that Ned was a clone and not the original? If so, retconning BND Harry into being a clone is an incredibly rich piece of work. Is Ned's resurrection important for something going on elsewhere (Beyond, Devil's Reign)? Or was this just "Spencer wants Ned alive his way"?

*I have no idea how a fan who jumped in during BND or Slott's run as their first Spidey experience would think of him

[Starrius]

Canon actually proves that is NOT the case. Dan Slott created a character I absolutely loathe in Silk with the hormonal sex scenes. It is not hard to picture a scenario where the hormones kick in and MJ sees him banging Cindy. There goes the marriage. Another scenario:,Peter catches MJ on the “Casting Couch. As for OMD, There is absolutely no justification for that story to be continuing on for 13 years and counting, and I am waiting for Lowe or someone at Marvel to justify it beyond fear of losing readers. As for the future I said it before and I will say it again: I do not see OMD going away or even addressed before ASM 1000 at the absolute earliest.

How did Canon prove that is NOT the case????

Peter and Mary Jane went through a lot in their marriage with a lot of ups and downs, and they still loved each other and and stayed married, and so they're getting a divorce doesn't seem likely.

[Starrius]

My feeling is that this issue shouldn't have been $10. So on that level I'm not happy about it.

I would have removed the backups and kept the main Spencer issue. The backups added nothing (I know Ben Reilly fans will disagree about the Ben Reilly one but sue me) and the Gage backup was just bad, a lame imitation of the kind of story Paul Jenkins could do in his sleep. It also irritated me for reasons I don't want to go into now but for those who want a guess, it contradicts stuff in Louise Simonson's great ASM Annual #21 and from earlier in Spencer's run.

The main Spencer story I liked. It's not a great satisfying ending but at the very least we got rid of BND-Harry and made him an impostor. We got a mostly decent explanation for Kindred, the Harry AI, the twins and Mephisto.

As for OMD, Spencer hasn't kicked the can down the road so much as make it into a giant elephant filigree that occupies the central room of ASM Continuity's metaphorical living room which everyone has to move around. So that's good under the circumstances.

I never had too much expectations because obviously so long as Quesada is around at Marvel and (mostly) calling the shots, he's never going to have that story addressed the way it should. To the extent I was optimistic, I expected Spencer would have Peter and/or Mary Jane remember his marriage but I lost hope for that when it didn't happen with Last Remains. Because the fallout for that ought to have furnished several issues worth of stuff at least. Since it didn't happen then I didn't think it'll happen on the way out and not when Spencer announced his exit.

I never thought OMD was going to be undone nor the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane restored as long as Quesada and his minions work at Marvel.

[NC_Yankee]

How did Canon prove that is NOT the case????

Peter and Mary Jane went through a lot in their marriage with a lot of ups and downs, and they still loved each other and and stayed married, and so they're getting a divorce doesn't seem likely.

Cindy and that atrocious arc ( my most despised after OMD and Kindred is something that happened and if Marvel wanted a divorce they could have had Peter cheat on MJ with Cindy due to the hormonal issue. Not difficult ( and still better then OMD and selling your soul to Mephisto and better then Kindred with using Mayday as Mephisto’s justification). The more I analyze Kindred the more I dislike it.

[Unspeakable Evil]

The Mephisto stuff is flat out BS ( always will be). If ( right or wrong) Quesada did not want Peter and MJ together, then divorce them. Same for the kid issue. Roe v Wade has made Abortion legal for almost 50 years, so if MJ wants no kids there is your solution ( right or wrong it happens every day) There is absolutely no justification for that story. I believe the real reason why it happened was a fear on Quesada’s end that people will not buy an Adult Peter. Today there is less of a need for a juvenile Peter because there is a teenage Spider-Man named Miles.

It is kinda weird the way Marvel editorial sees Peter . Didn’t want to to do divorce, didn’t want twins to be Peter’s because of premarital sex , and now MJ and Peter not being married means they can’t have kids? Fam why is Peter Parker who’s this Everyman not allowed to have normal bad things happen anymore?

[Frontier]

It is kinda weird the way Marvel editorial sees Peter . Didn’t want to to do divorce, didn’t want twins to be Peter’s because of premarital sex , and now MJ and Peter not being married means they can’t have kids? Fam why is Peter Parker who’s this Everyman not allowed to have normal bad things happen anymore?

I guess if anything positive comes out of Spencer's run it's that, married or otherwise, people don't care about Peter being single.

At the very least this era saw a resurgence in Mary Jane's character and her importance to the mythos that the past era and a half had degraded so I feel like that was a net good in the long run. As well as fixing Felicia's character.

[NC_Yankee]

I guess if anything positive comes out of Spencer's run it's that, married or otherwise, people don't care about Peter being single.

At the very least this era saw a resurgence in Mary Jane's character and her importance to the mythos that the past era and a half had degraded so I feel like that was a net good in the long run. As well as fixing Felicia's character.

I will agree about Felicia. I am one who is fed up with OMD and fed up with how Peter is portrayed. First by Slott ( Man Child) then by Spencer) Pathetic Parker/Damsel In Distress unable to beat up a regular human in Wilson Fisk ( let alone superpowers villains).